Hu Liena stared at the Primordial Spirit Bead, which hovered just three inches in front of her, caught in a deep turmoil.
She knew that the moment she accepted it, she would be admitting it.
Admitting the Marriage Contract that had descended from the heavens, admitting the existence of Shen Yichen, whom she had never met, admitting that from then on, she would be someone else's "Dao Companion."
But if she refused, she would have to watch helplessly as this priceless treasure, capable of awakening her Green Hill bloodline and rebuilding the foundation of her Martial Soul, slipped through her fingers.
Hu Liena clenched her teeth until they ground together, her fingertips trembling slightly. Just as she hesitated for the third second—
"Move!"
Bibi Dong sprang into action.
Without any warning, the Rakshasa Divine Power around her erupted, enveloping her in a dark purple glow.
She raised her right hand. Soul Power rapidly gathered in her palm, transforming into a massive purple claw. With a shrill whistle that tore through the air, it seized at the Primordial Spirit Bead hovering overhead!
"This object of unknown origin should be kept and examined by Spirit Hall!"
Bibi Dong's reasoning was simple: whatever this bead was, she would take it first and ask questions later.
Once it was under Spirit Hall's control, she would have the upper hand.
As for what Shen Yichen wanted, she could decide what to do once she had thoroughly investigated the bead.
The purple claw swept across several yards, carrying the full Soul Power of a peak Titled Douluo. Under everyone's gaze, it clamped down viciously on the white, pigeon-egg-sized bead.
The instant it made contact—
Golden light erupted.
An ancient Celestial Master Dao Pattern abruptly appeared on the surface of the Primordial Spirit Bead. The pattern shone for just an instant, yet unleashed a force of rejection powerful enough to destroy heaven and earth!
Boom—!
Bibi Dong's body flew backward.
She hadn't been bounced away. She had been crushed aside.
The purple claw, formed from all her Soul Power, couldn't withstand the golden Dao Pattern for even a single breath before shattering into countless purple fragments.
Then that power surged along her arm, flinging her more than fifty yards away.
"Bang!"
Bibi Dong's back slammed into a stone pillar in Pope Palace. The pillar cracked in several places, and rubble pattered to the ground.
She fell to one knee, her right hand curled into a spasm, wisps of black smoke rising from her fingertips. This wasn't an ordinary burn—it was Dao Qi purifying the Rakshasa evil power inside her.
"Ugh—!"
A muffled groan forced its way from Bibi Dong's throat.
The Rakshasa Martial Soul inside her let out a shrill wail.
The evil power that had entrenched itself deep in her meridians for decades was being forcibly stripped away by an irresistible golden Dao Qi. Each wisp it removed brought a pain that pierced her heart and gnawed at her bones.
Bibi Dong's forehead was instantly slick with cold sweat, and her face turned deathly pale.
On the plaza, thousands of Soul Masters stared blankly, their minds gone completely blank.
His Holiness the Pope... had been sent flying by a bead?
And she was badly injured.
"Teacher!"
Xie Yue was the first to react. He rushed to Bibi Dong's side and reached out to help her.
Bibi Dong shoved him away and gritted her teeth as she got to her feet.
Black smoke still rose from her right hand. Her five fingers were swollen and misshapen, and dark red blood seeped from beneath her nails.
But she didn't look at her injuries.
She fixed her gaze on the Primordial Spirit Bead, still hovering quietly in front of Hu Liena, her chest heaving.
Dao Qi purifies evil.
Those five words echoed over and over in her mind.
The pain she had felt just now hadn't been an attack. It had been purification.
The moment that power touched the Rakshasa evil force in her body, it had instinctively begun to cleanse it.
What did that mean?
It meant Shen Yichen's Dao power naturally countered her Rakshasa Martial Soul.
A sheen of cold sweat broke out across Bibi Dong's back.
After making sure his teacher was all right, Xie Yue hurried over to Hu Liena.
Hu Liena was still standing where she was, frozen in place.
She had watched with her own eyes as her teacher—the most powerful woman in her heart—was casually sent flying by a bead and badly injured.
"Nana."
Xie Yue lowered his voice and leaned close to her ear.
"You saw it too. This Primordial Spirit Bead recognizes only you as its master. No one else can even touch it."
Hu Liena didn't respond. Her gaze remained fixed on Bibi Dong's right hand, still wreathed in black smoke.
Xie Yue continued, "Accept it. With it, your strength will soar. After that, no one will ever be able to bully you again."
Those words struck a chord with Hu Liena.
That was right. What would refusing it even accomplish?
Hu Liena looked at the Primordial Spirit Bead before her, glowing with a warm white light.
She raised her hand.
The instant her fingertips touched the bead's surface, warmth spread from the point of contact.
The Primordial Spirit Bead instantly turned into a streak of white light and sank into her brow.
Boom—
A vast yet gentle force burst open inside her, flowing through her meridians and into every part of her body.
Everywhere it passed, the impurities accumulated over the years were stripped away one by one, turning into gray-white foul qi that seeped out through her pores.
Then an even deeper power reached the origin of her Martial Soul.
The evil power she had contracted in the Capital of Slaughter—the dark remnants she thought she had already fully absorbed, but which had in fact been buried deep in the foundation of her Martial Soul—was cleansed away without a trace.
Hu Liena's whole body shuddered. She exhaled a mouthful of foul qi, and her entire being was renewed from the inside out.
Then her Demon Fox Martial Soul appeared of its own accord.
She hadn't released it. The Martial Soul had broken free on its own.
A long fox's cry rang out above Pope Palace.
Under everyone's astonished gaze, the eerie red fur of Hu Liena's Demon Fox Martial Soul began to lose its color at a visible speed, replaced by pure white fur, as spotless as the snow of Kunlun!
Its aura surged at a frenzied pace.
Rank sixty-nine.
Rank seventy.
Rank seventy-one.
It broke through. The Soul Saint bottleneck crumbled just like that, as easily as if it had been nothing.
Rank seventy-two.
Rank seventy-three.
It was still rising.
Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan's jaw nearly hit the ground. Ghost Douluo's hands had stopped shaking—not because he had calmed down, but because he was completely numb.
Behind Hu Liena, five of the tails of her Demon Fox phantom had now turned snow-white.
The sixth tail was losing its color.
The seventh... began to grow.
Someone in the plaza cried out, "A seventh tail! The Holy Maiden's Martial Soul is evolving!"
From a distance, Bibi Dong clutched her injured right hand and stared fixedly at the fox phantom transforming behind Hu Liena.
Seven tails.
Eight tails.
The instant the ninth snow-white tail slowly unfurled behind the phantom, the sky over all of Spirit City abruptly changed. Purple-gold clouds gathered from thin air, blotting out even the midday sun.
The Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox.
The highest bloodline of ancient Green Hill had appeared once more in the world after ten thousand years.
Hu Liena floated in midair, nine snow-white fox tails swaying gently behind her, while the Fox Seal between her brows blazed with dazzling purple-gold light.
She looked down at her hands as the Soul Power around her continued to rise.
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